Deadly Birthday to You
by taylorjago
Summary: Serial killer on the loose! Detective Phillip Rice (inspired of Hercule Poirot) has to find who it is, and he's doing it!
1. 30th Birthday & First Murder

**First, thank you for taking your time to read this, even if you decide to not continue reading later on. It's still nice of you to take a peek.  
**

**Second, I'd like to clarify that this book has got NOTHING to do with the Hercule Poirot series, nor does it feature any of its characters. I just had to put this in something and I thought the Hercule Poirot series was the best it could do. Though the story is inspired of the Hercule Poirot series.  
**

**Reviews are appreciated (a lot), and Chapter 2 will be published immediately!**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

"Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you, Richard

Happy birthday to you"

"Blow out the candles, my big boy!" exclaimed Madeline Arquios.

Richard Arquios did as he was told.

It was his 30th birthday and he was celebrating it with his sister Lily, his mother Madeline, his father Jeff, his older brother Alexander, his younger brother Thomas and his best friend Conor Tryair.

"Let's dance!" Conor Tryair shouted, and it wasn't long before everyone was dancing along to "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and "The Power" by Snap!.

* * *

"A new book! Thank you so much, dad!"

"I knew you would like it. It's by your favorite author, Roald Dahl." Jeff Arquios said modestly.

"Here's my present, Richard, I hope you'll like it." said Thomas Arquios as he handed his gift to his brother.

"Now That's What I Call Music! 70! Thanks, little brother!"

"You can say Now 70, you know."

"Please, who cares what he calls it, Thomas!" Madeline Arquios scolded him. "Oh, and here's my present, Richard!"

"An encyclopedia! Thanks, mum!"

"You're very welcome."

"Here's my gift, brother" said Lily Arquios. "A £50 gift certificate!"

"That's not enough money, Lily!"

"What do you mean, it's not enough money? Don't get greedy, Richard!"

"I'm joking, Lily!"

"My present to you, Richard, and also to us!" said Alexander Arquios.

"Seven plane tickets to the USA! Brillant! Thank you so much, Alexander!"

"You're welcome. Besides, it's a present for all of us!"

"Even me?" asked Conor Tryair.

"Yes, even you, Conor." replied Alexander. "Now, where's your present?"

"Here it is. Happy birthday, Richard!"

"A dirt bike!"

**S**"Yes, but I have to put this somewhere else, don't I?"

"Of course!"

"Anyway, we're going on the 2nd of October 2008, two weeks from now."

"Okay!"

* * *

"Do you have to go now?" asked Richard to his friend.

"Yes, Richard, I have to go now. It was a great party! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"See you later!"

"Come on, Richard, I think we're all tired after our big day. Let's go to bed." said Madeline Arquios.

And so they did. And Richard Arquios fell fast asleep pretty quickly.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Richard suddenly needed to go the toilet urgently, which was at the third floor. He couldn't see very clearly (in fact, he couldn't see at all in the darkness) but he could feel his way around very, very well. He climbed the stairs and opened the door. It was cold! He couldn't wait to get back to bed. But at that very second, he took a step forward and fell down.

He managed to grab the railing and suddenly realised that he was hanging on to dear life above the street. He saw someone (who he couldn't recognize) coming and thought he was going to be saved. But the stranger obviously had other intentions: he simply put a piece of paper in his hair and slowly made him lose his grip, letting Richard Arquios fall to his untimely death.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dun!**

**So, Mr. Richard Arquios has been murdered, but who has done the dirty deed? Guess you'll have to wait and find out, won't you!**

**Also, at the end of each chapter, I'll give a fic suggestion and a song suggestion.**

**Now, turn the page!**


	2. Phillip Rice Is On The Case

**Author's Note: I published this chapter immediately after the prologue. So recap: Richard Arquios has been murdered by an unknown person. Who is it?  
**

* * *

Mr. Canterbury was walking his dog in town like he did every morning and he never needed to tell him where to go. However, on that morning, the dog eschewed from its normal course and turned into a dark alley. Mr. Canterbury was a little bit surprised at this, though he made nothing of it: after all, it wouldn't hurt either his dog or himself to walk a little distance more.

However, the gentleman became concerned when his dog suddenly starting barking and running. In haste, he ran after his pet and saw the reason of his dog's excitement. There was a dead body lying on the street.

Mr. Canterbury grabbed his dog without hesitation and ran towards the police station. The police arrived at the scene quickly and examined the body for any injury: they found a stratch and in his pockets they found tissues and plane tickets: this almost completely eliminated the possibility of a suicide.

There was an intriguing piece of paper in his hair. It read:

"Richard Arquios, 30 years old. This is only the beginning: 1 down, 25 to go."

"Well, we can expect 25 more murders unless we catch this lunatic! A new serial killer! Just great!" said Frederic Andrews, a police officer,

"Don't worry, Frederic!" Timothy Rimon said. "Remember, we have Phillip Rice with us! He'll crack our case!"

* * *

Phillip Rice was a young man, 25 years of age. He was informed of the case and arrived to the scene immediately. After doing a quick analysis of the situation and interrogating the family of the victim (plus Mr. George Canterbury), he declared:

"Our man (or woman) assassinated Mr. Richard Arquios by throwing him off his balcony and onto the streets. It was his 30th birthday on the day of the murder. Are any of these facts going to be repeated in his next 25 murders he claims, in his letter that he put in Richard Arquios's hair before or after the murder, that he will commit?

Also, if he was to commit this 25 other murders without being caught, will he continue to murder after his streak has ended or not?"

"Questions, questions, questions! We want answers, Phillip!" police officer Harry Maxwell yelled.

"Be quiet, Maxwell! I'm trying to find suspects!" Phillip Rice retorted.

"Mr. Rice, Mr. Rice! I need to tell you something!" yelled Lily Arquios, Richard's sister.

"What is it? asked Phillip Rice in frustation.

"I found a staircase leading to the rail of the balcony of Richard's room! There is also a shelf out of place! You need to see this! NOW!"

Phillip Rice went into Richard Arquios's room and found everything just as Lily Arquios had described it.

"So the murderer wanted to trick Mr. Richard Arquios to walk up the book stairs and fall to his death, that way he could have him die without having to kill him and subsequently leaving any evidence linking him. Very sneaky indeed! According to Madeline Arquios, Richard Arquios's mother, Arquios was prone to feeling his way around and not switching the light on".

"So the murderer is likely one of the members of his family or one of his friends!" Frederic Andrews exclaimed. "Only someone who knew him would know that he "feels" his way around his room without switching the light on! Admit I'm right! Go on!"

"That is very true, Andrews, you are absolutely right" Rice replied. "So everyone who knew him is a suspect, and I mean everyone!"

"Should we have them arrested on suspicion of murder" suggesteed Frederic Andrews.

"No, we have no solid evidence linking any of them to the crime. We therefore cannot arrest them. I will continue my investigation until I discover who is responsible for this!"

"Also, technically this wasn't a murder." said Harry Maxwell.

"And why is that not the case?" asked a confused Frederic Andrews.

"Even though we knew that Mr. Richard Arquios did not commit suicide, to a court it would appear that he did."

"Just great! So our man never did anything legally wrong?" asked Phillip Rice in utter frustation.

"I'm afraid not, detective. Still, he says that he will commit 25 more murders, so maybe he'll commit one considered as murder by the law."

"So you're going to wait until the killer assassinates stabs or shoots or poisons one of his victims, is that it? Because we can wait a long time for that to happen!" Phillip Rice yelled at his associate. "And also, stop referring to the killer as if it was a certainty that it was a male! Our assassin could be female, you know!

"Yes, I know that, Rice, there's no need to yell at me!" shouted Timothy Rimon before leaving the room.

"Now, I'll get back to attempting to solve this case, if you don't mind." said Phillip Rice.

"Tell me if you find anything, detective. Have a good day." said Frederic Andrews, and he left the room aswell.

_So who could it be? Who murdered Richard Arquios? Questions, questions, questions, but Phillip Rice, Frederic Andrews, Harry Maxwell, Timothy Rimon and the Arquios family wanted answers!_

* * *

**So, that was chapter 2.**

**Originally, the third chapter hadn't been written yet, but my account has been locked for whatever reason, so I will publish it very soon after this one after all.  
**

**And yes, I remember that I said that at the end of each fic, I would give two suggestions, one fic and one song. And here they are:**

**Must read fic: Frozen Hearts by Sakume**

**Must listen to song: eez-eh by Kasabian**

**Until next time (which is right now anyway) !  
**

**Taylorjago**


	3. Trip To America & Second Murder

**Hello again, readers! I hope that you'll enjoy the third chapter to my story. It's quite a bit longer than the two first chapters were. Happy reading!  
**

* * *

_October 2, 2008_

"Poor Richard, he would have loved this," Lily Arquios sighed as she, her family and Conor Tryair boarded the plane to go the USA, the journey which was a present to Richard Arquios for his birthday two weeks earlier, though that was prior to his death.

Sadly, they went to their seats, one of which was vacant.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

"Sir! Sir!" exclaimed Harry Maxwell. "The suspects have boarded a flight to America!"

"So?" asked Phillip Rice. "Why do I care?"

"But sir, if they are in America, if we were to discover that one of them was the murderer, we may never be able to arrest them!"

"Mrs. Lily Arquios and Mr. Alexander Arquios have no solid alibis, but why would Lily Arquios tell us that the room of the victim has been set up to trick him to walk towards his death? And Alexander Arquios bought 7 plane tickets: one for himself, one for Madeline Arquios, one for Lily Arquios, one for Jeff Arquios, one for Thomas Arquios and one for Conor Tryair: the seventh ticket could have only been for the victim, Richard Arquios. If Alexander Arquios intended to kill his brother, why would he buy him a plane ticket? It doesn't make sense!

"If one of them has murdered Mr. Richard Arquios, you will find out who, Phillip Rice." said Harry Maxwell. "Oh, and I wanted to go to a restaurant tomorrow night, care to join us?"

"Who's coming?" asked Phillip Rice.

"Me, Andrews and Timon. So, are you in?"

"Okay, I'll come."

* * *

_In the late night of October 2, 2008._

"6 weeks in the USA! So, where do we go first?" asked Conor Tryair.

"We'll stay on the East Coast, but after a few days we'll go to California! Come on, let's go!" replied Jeff Arquios.

"We wan't go just yet, we're still on the plane, you idiot!" said Thomas Arquios.

"Oh, yes, I forgot, silly silly silly me!"

"We're about to land!" shouted Lily Arquios as she caught sight of the city of New York.

Moments later, the Arquios familly and Conor Tryair disembarked from the plane. They got a taxi and left John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"First, I booked us all a night at New York's Hotel Pennsylvania, then tomorrow we'll go to the Central Park Zoo!"

"Yes! I've always wanted to go there!"

"After that we'll probably leave New York and go elsewhere, okay?" said Alexander Arquios.

"Okay!" said Lily and Thomas Arquios in unison.

* * *

_November 9, 2008_

"Second murder, Sir!"

"What?"

It was morning and Phillip Rice was in his office when Timothy Rimon informed him that a second murder, presumed to be commited by the same murderer that committed Richard Arquios's murder, had occurred.

"The murderer left a message on a large piece of paper saying: "Justin Banock, 30 years old. Things are getting more exciting. 2 down, 24 to go. Until next time, so long!" written in red. Should I give it to you?"

"Yes, hand it over, Rimon. Now".

Phillip Rice quickly examined the piece of paper.

"That's disgusting!" he shrieked.

"What is?" the police officer inquired.

"This message was written with the victim's blood as ink!"

"My god, that's so crude I don't believe it! Let me see"

"The Arquioses and Conor Tryair are still in America according to our sources. They have a solid alibi for this."

"They're exonerated from the first murder, then. Cancel the charges against them immediately!"

"Well, they weren't any charges against them, sir." Timothy Rimon reminded him.

"How come?" said Phillip Rice.

"Frederic Andrews wanted to press charges, but you objected to that. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, yes! Silly me! Anyway, let's go to the scene of the scene. Now!"

"Your car or my car?" asked Timothy Rimon.

"You go in yours, I go in mine. Okay?"

"Okay!"

* * *

"It's such a shame we have to go back to England now! Can't we stay longer?"

"No, Lily, we can't!" yelled Alexander Arquios.

"I know that!" said Lily Jackson. "It's just that it was so much fun in America!"

"We'll come back one day, Lily. But we have to go now or we'll miss our flight!" said Thomas Arquios. "Come on!"

"Goodbye America!" Conor Tryair and the Arquoises yelled out as they boarded the plane.

"It won't be the same back at home, will it now?" said Lily Arquios.

"No, it certaintly won't be the same!" said Jeff.

"This was such a fantastic holiday! I can't wait to tell everybody back home all about it!" said Conor Tryair.

"Unfortunately, we still have Richard's funeral to prepare. My poor, poor boy!" said Madeline Arquios before breaking down in tears.

"I bet some people think one of us did it!" said Alexander Arquios.

"Why would anyone think that?" said Conor Tryair.

"Well, the person who arranged the room at night so that Richard would kill himself obviously knew that he "felt" his way around the room, didn't they?"

"I guess that makes sense," said Conor Tryair.

* * *

"I see London!" said Jeff Arquios.

"I'm tired!" said Thomas Arquios. "I can't wait to get to bed!"

"Well you're going to have to wait just a little while longer, Thomas." said Conor Tryair. "Come on, let's go home!"

They got off the plane, got their car back, watched the plane take off, and left Heathrow Airport.

A few miles later, they saw a woman holding up an autostop sign: they took pity of her and let her in their car, bringing her to her home. She was named Rachel Banock and wanted to be at her brother Justin's 30th birthday, even if she was a little late.

They talked a bit during the journey, but when they arrived at her home, they were surprised to see yellow police lines around the house.

But the Arquoises and Conor Tryair were even more surprised to see Phillip Rice at the scene: this could only mean one thing.

"Well isn't this a coincidence! Hello, the Arquios family!"

"What are you doing here, Philip Rice?" spat Jeff Arquios.

"It is very simple: the murderer of your son has struck again. Mr. Justin Banock have been stabbed to death, and in another coincidence, on his 30th birthday, with a message left next to him."

"Oh my god, my brother, murdered? That is just not possible!" said Rachel Banock, in complete and utter shock.

"And you are sure that this murder and the one of my brother were committed by the same person?" said Alexander Arquios.

"Yes they were. And since you were in America yesterday..."

"Yes we were"

"...you couldn't have committed the crime. You are subsequently exonerated of any suspicion of the murder of Richard Arquios." said the detective.

"See, I told you we were suspected!" said Alexander Arquios.

"None of this matters. The thing that matters to find out who did this! Isn't that right, Mr. Rice?" said Madeline Arquios.

"Of course, of course" said Phillip Rice. "Now, are you Rachel Banock?" he asked, talking to her.

"Yes, yes I am" she replied.

"Your mother Ruth would like to speak to you. Now"

* * *

**Did you enjoy that? I promise there will be more coming up soon! Until next time! But before I leave, pics of the chapter:  
**

**Fic: Beware The Frozen Heart by M. Michelon**

**Song: Ghost by Ella Henderson**


	4. Early Hypotheses

**Hello again! So, we've got a second murder on our hands! The victim is Justin Banock, also murdered on his 30th birthday. Is this just a coincidence, or was this planned to be that way? You'll find out!  
**

**Happy reading! Oh, and please review, it would be strongly appreciated!  
**

* * *

_November 11, 2008_

"It's 90 years since World War I ended today." said Alexander Arquios.

"Well done, you know your history." muttered Ruth Banock.

"Is it true that the day of the murder was the day of your son's 30th birthday?" inquired Madeline Arquios.

"Yes, why?" asked Ruth Banock.

"Because our son was murdered presumabely by the same person as yours was, and it was also his 30th birthday on the night of his death."

"So, here's what I've discovered about the murder of Justin Banock." said Phillip Rice as he entered the room. "He was stabbed repetetively and his blood was recuperated in this glass." he continued, showing the glass, which had contained the blood of Justin Banock, for everyone to see. "He then wrote "Justin Banock, 30 years old. Things are getting more exciting. 2 down, 24 to go. Until next time, so long" with his victim's blood."

"That is disgusting!" shrieked Conor Tryair.

"I know it's disgusting, Mr. Tryair, but it's a fact."

"Well, what evidence does it give, Mr. Rice?" asked Thomas Arquios.

"I was convinced that the murder of Richard Arquios and the murder of Justin Banock had been committed by the same person, but recently I thought that maybe the assassin of Richard Arquios and the assassin of Justin Banock were two different people. While the messages written next to the victim's corpse would imply that Mr. Arquios and Mr. Banock were killed by the same man or woman, the difference between the two murders keeps me from concluding this, and makes me go more for the hypothese that the two people were murdered by a different person. Not only that, the fact that the Arquios family, who were at Richard Arquios's apartment when he died and knew of his habit of feeling his way around his person, would mean that one of them murdered Mr. Richard Arquios; however, they have an alibi beyond dispute for the murder of Justin Banock, having been in the US at the time. We followed their movements and location very closely during the past 8 weeks."

"I knew it would happen." muttered Alexander Arquios under his breath.

"Here, we have facts that are opposed: both victims are men and were murdered on their 30th birthday, and in both cases a note was left near their corpse. However, Mr. Arquios was tricked into plunging to his death; Mr. Banock, meanwhile, was stabbed to death. But there is one hypothese that abides to both facts: that the murderer of Richard Arquios and the murderer of Justin Banock knew each other and had hatched a plan to kill the two men, making it look like Mr. Arquios and Mr. Banock were murdered by the same person, and ensuring that both had an alibi for the murder that they didn't commit. Makes sense, no?"

"So who was it then?" asked policer officer Jack Passent and Harry Maxwell as they entered the room.

"For the murder of Richard Arquios, Lily Arquios and Alexander Arquios are both unlikely suspects."

"And why is that?" asked Jack Passent.

"If she had murdered her brother, why would have Lily Arquios told us about the room arrangement? And if Alexander Arquios intended to kill his brother, why did he buy him a plane ticket to the USA?"

"And for Madeline Arquios, Jeff Arquios, Thomas Arquios and Conor Tryair?" asjed Harry Maxwell.

"They have no apparent motive. In his will, Richard Arquios left all his money to charity."

"He'd usually tell me that he excepted to not have any offspring. That probably explains why he left everything to charity." said Conor Tryair.

"Yes, but what if one of the siblings had murdered Richard Arquios in order to receive his part of inheritance from their parents?" suggested Jack Passent.

"How dare you accuse my children of murder! I'll punch you in the face, you sick little creep!" yelled Jeff Arquios.

"Officer Jack Passent, do not jump to any conclusions, please. In my opinion, the murder of Richard Arquios and the murder of Justin Banock were commited by the same person."

"Then why have you been claiming the opposite?" asked Ruth Banock.

"I never claimed the opposite, Mrs. Banock, I merely pointed out that there was a possibility that the murders had been committed by different people. Now, if you would excuse me, I'd like to sit down."

"Hello, Ruth!"

"Paul, how lovely to see you! I've missed you so much!" Ruth exclaimed as she kissed him.

After the kiss ended, Paul noticed the people in the room.

"Honey, why are all these people in my house? Oh, and where's my boy? I have a surprise for him!"

Ruth burst into tears.

"Ruth, what's wrong?"

"It's Justin, he's been, he's been..." she continued, but stopping since she couldn't bear to say it.

"He's been what? He's been what, Ruth?" Paul Banock asked as he grew slightly concerned about his wife's hysterical behaviour.

"He's been murdered." said Thomas Arquios in a serious voice.

"What?" asked Paul Banock in complete disbelief.

"By a person who is apparently intent on killing 26 people. He's already killed two, and both of the victim's 30th birthday. I'm the detective in this case. I'm Phillip Rice, and you are?"

"Paul Banock, I'm pleased to meet you and I hope that you'll find out who the monster who killed my son is!"

"It also killed my brother!" said Lily Arquios, tears in her eyes. "Well, technically, my brother wasn't killed, he was manipulated into plunging to his death."

"Why would anyone do such a thing?" asked Paul Banock in disbelief (again).

"I have no idea." said Phillip Rice. "But the murderer of your son did something extremely gruesome aswell."

"How was my son killed? Tell me now!" yelled Paul Bonack.

"He was stabbed." said Phillip Rice. "And the murderer left this." he said, handing over the piece of paper.

"What kind of ink is this? I've never seen such an ink before!" said Paul Bonack.

"It is not ink, it is your son's blood." said Phillip Rice with the most serious tone.

"Oh my god, that's disgusting! He already killed my little Justin, but this is the last straw! How I wish I could just grab his neck and slowly tighten my grip around it, making him die a slow and painful as revenge for what he did to my poor son!"

"Please, sir, don't say things you may regret. And be assured that I will do the best I can to find out who has committed these heinous crimes."

"Bring justice for Justin, please, Mr. Phillip Rice, I'm begging you!" cried Paul Bonack.

"That is my job, Mr. Banock!"

"Darling, I want you to meet the Arquios family. As you know, their relative was murdered by the same person who killed Justin."

"How do you do?" asked Lily Arquios politely.

"Well what do you think? I've just come home from a trip for work and I learn that my son has been murdered!"

"Sorry I asked." Lily Arquios mumbled.

"Doesn't matter. I'm pleased to meet you, Madam. And I'm please to meet, Sir." he said, referring to Thomas Arquios.

"Thomas Arquios is my name."

"And I'm Alexander Arquios, and here is my father, Jeff Arquios."

"How are you?"

"Very well now. We've come back from a trip to the USA."

"How was it?"

"We loved it, didn't we?"

"Yes, it was brillant!"

"So now we're all introduced. Funny, I think I may heard the name Arquios before."

* * *

**Cliffhanger there (sorry!)**

**Fic of the chapter: Find Your Way Home by Anna's Awkward You're Gorgeous**

**(yes, I know, that's not exactly the best pen name)**

**Song of the chapter: Sing by Travis**

**(not Ed Sheeran)**

**Until next time!**


	5. The Chocolate Race

**Hello again, loyal readers! Here's chapter 5! Sorry it was updated long after the last one! Happy reading!**

* * *

_November 30, 2008_

"I can't believe it! It's almost December!" said Madeline Arquios.

"Christmas shopping, everyone!" said Lily Arquios.

"Oh, come on! You know how much I hate spending like 4 hours in the department store!" yelled Conor Tryair in utter frustation.

"Do you want to say something to me, Conor?" asked Madeline and Jeff Arquios.

"Yes, but in private, please." said Conor Tryair. The three then exited the room.

Once they were out of earshot to Lily, Thomas and Alexander, Conor Tryair started talking.

"Look, I don't look you two to view me as a replacement to Richard. Because I really don't want that." said Conor Tryair in a very serious tone.

"We don't." said Jeff Arquios.

"Good."

They then returned to the room.

"I've got a proposition to make!" Lily Arquios shouted.

Conor Tryair and the Arquioses looked at her.

"Those who want to go shopping can come with me and those who don't want to go shopping can stay at home or do something else. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me." said Conor Tryair and Alexander Arquios.

"I'll go to the shops with Lily!" said Madeline Arquios.

"I'll stay at home!" said Jeff Arquios.

"Okay! So that's settled then! Come on, mum, let's go!"

* * *

_December 1, 2008  
_

"So, it is tradition in our family to do the chocolate race on the first of December, ninth of December, seventeenth of December and twenty-fourth of December. The rules are: you must eat your 5 muffins, only then you can start collecting chocolate. You cannot use your hands, but you can use anything else, and you have to put the chocolate in your bowl for it to be considered yours. When the game is over, we count the chocolates in each bowl, and the person who has the most chocolates wins the right to hide the chocolates for the next chocolate race, while everyone gets to eat all of the chocolates that they have collected. Is everything clear?"

"Crystal clear!" shouted Conor Tryair.

"So, to decide who hides the 75 chocolates, we will do heads or tails. First, we all do a heads or tails against someone, and who wins their toss-up goes to the second round.

Next, one of the eliminated contestants does 5 flips and all three contestants must choose heads or tails for every flip. The person who got the fewest flips right is eliminated. In case of a two-person tie, they will flip against each other. And for the final round, the last two will flip a coin and whoever gets it right wins the right to hide the chocolates! Okay?"

"Yes!"

The coin flipped started. Thomas won to Lily, Alexander won to Conor and Madeline won to Jeff.

Then, Madeline got two flips right, Thomas three flips right and Alexander one flip right, meaning he was eliminated.

Finally, Thomas won the final flip to Madeline, so he hid the 75 chocolates. It took him 5 minutes.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Go!"

The Arquoises (plus Conor Tryair) ran across the room, grabbing all the chocolates they could find. They were a little crazy, and their behaviour would be ridiculous to someone unaware of their December tradition. Suddenly, Phillip Rice ran into the room.

"There's been a third... what are you doing?"

The detective stayed there, wondering why on earth the five were frantically running around the house or carrying chocolates in their mouths.

"It's a chocolate race." explained Thomas. "Anyway, what did you want to tell us?"

"Our serial killer has struck again! Michael Risset is the victim, and in a perfect coincidence that can't be just a coincidence, he was killed on his 30th birthday."

"Blimey! And we were just about to start preparing for Christmas, another murder! Game's over!"

Thomas Arquios counted the chocolates in each bowl, before declaring Alexander the winner with 27 chocolates.

"Oh, Mr. Rice, what are you doing here?" asked Jeff Arquios.

"Michael Risset has been murdered, presumably by the same murderer who committed the murders Richard Arquios and Justin Banock. The fact that each victim was killed on their 30th birthday can't just be a simple coincidence. It is part of the murderer's plan: to kill each of his victims on the 30th anniversary of their birth."

"Why?" asked Lily Arquios.

"I don't know." admitted Phillip Rice. "But why did Mr. Paul Banock say that the Arquios name was familiar to him?"

* * *

**Cliffhanger again! Sorry for the long wait! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed chapter 5, and as always, here are my fic and song recommendations:**

**Fic of the chapter: Price Of Freedom by missbrielle**

**Song of the chapter: Insomnia by Faithless**

**Until next time!**


	6. Third Murder & Christmas Dinner

**Right, chapter 6 ****is here! However, due to document issues (I'm in Portugal right now and I don't have my computer) do not except an update before next Friday. Subsequently, I've made this Chapter the longest chapter yet. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Now that you have finished this chocolate race of yours, could you reply to my question?" asked Phillip Rice.

"What question?" asked Madeline Arquios.

"Why did Mr. Paul Banock say that the name Arquios was familiar to him?"

"There was a Justin Banock in Richard's class in Year 2 of middle school. And maybe some Michael Risset, but I'm not quite sure." said Alexander Arquios.

"How on earth do you do to remember all of those things?" asked Thomas Arquios.

"I just do" said Alexander in modesty.

"That information will be very useful to my investigation. Thank you!" said Phillip Rice.

Once Phillip Rice had left the house, Jeff Arquios said:

"Honestly, I think that Mr. Phillip Rice could just leave us alone to continue with our humble lives, but no, he has to come to our house and give us the news about the killer's strikes!"

"Dad! Don't be mean. Phillip Rice is a very humble man, and in my opinion he is very nice to bother coming all the way over here to give us the update!" said Lily Arquios.

* * *

_December 5, 2008_

"What could be the connection between Richard Arquios, Justin Banock and Michael Risset?" Phillip Rice asked himself. He was starting to get frustated from not finding any clues concerning the killer's identity, and Harry Maxwell, Frederic Andrews, Timothy Rimon amd Jack Passent were sharing his annoyance.

"I don't know, but I think Jeff Arquios might have something to do with the murders." said Jack Passent.

"What makes you think that?" asked Phillip Rice.

"Three reasons: first, he would surely have known of Mr. Richard Arquios's habit of feeling his way around his room; second, he is very aggresive; third, according to Conor Tryair, he has a strong dislike for you, sir."

"That doesn't mean he is the murderer, Jack Passent. We need solid evidence." replied Phillip Rice.

"Yes, I know, it was just a suggestion," said Jack Passent.

"Anyway, I'm organizing a Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Would you care to come?"

"Yes, I'll come, Phillip."

"Tell the other officers, please. Meanwhile, I'll send invitations to the Arquioses, the Banocks and the Rissets."

"But for sleep?" inquired Jack Passent.

"My house is very grand, officer. There will be enough room."

"Alright. See you then!"

* * *

_December 24, 2008_

"I am so glad you could come! Please, do come in!" Phillip Rice said as he greeted Michael Risset's mother, father and sister.

"Finally a Christmas dinner where I don't have to prepare the meal! Thank you so much for the invitation, Mr. Rice!"

"Just call me Phillip. And may I introduce you to the Arquios family, and Mr. and Mrs. Banock.

"How do you do? I'm Janet Risset" said Michael Risset as she introduced herself.

"I'm Lily Arquios, Richard Arquios' sister."

After everyone introduced themselves, they sat down for dinner.

"Now, we are here to have a Christmas dinner. But we are also here to discuss the murders of your relatives, with the exception of you, Conor Tryair, where it is your close friend who was killed."

"Now, I will invite the police officers to give hypotheses. Jack Passent, I'll start with you.

"My instinct tells me that Jeff Arquios is guilty."

"Could you explain the reasons for these suspicions?" asked Phillip Rice.

"Three reasons: first, he would surely have known of Mr. Richard Arquios's habit of feeling his way around his room, so he could have arranged the room to make Richard Arquios plunge to his death; second, he is very aggresive, which means he could very well be a murderer; third, according to Conor Tryair, he has a strong dislike for you, si, which could be explained by him being scared that you are going to find out he's the murderer! It all makes perfect sense!"

"I do not!" yelled Jeff Arquios.

"Yes you do, Dad. Once, you said that you wished that Phillip Rice would buzz off of our lives." said Alexander Arquios.

"All of your points are valid, Jack Passent, but you must remember that all of the Arquioses and Conor Tryair have a very solid alibi that cannot be overtuned for the murder of Justin Banock. Anyway, Harry Maxwell, what is your suggestion?"

"That Michael Risset was the murderer in the two first murders, and Paul Banock in the third."

"Why?" asked Phillip Rice, who wasn't excepting it.

"Apparently Mr. Risset had a few problems in justice and he almost killed previously. He may have killed Richard Arquios and Justin Banock. Paul Banock discovered that Michael Risset was the killer, but instead of telling this to us he decided to kill him in revenge for his son's murder, then ensure that the murder looked like it had been committed by the same person who committed the two first murders. Not only that, Mr. Michael Risset was strangled, and I heard Mr. Paul Banock say how he wished he could just grab his neck and slowly tighten his grip around it, making him die a slow and painful as revenge for what he did to his poor son! It glues together!"

"Or maybe," said Frederic Andrews, "Michael Risset commited the first two murders, then got somebody to kill him and continue his work! That makes sense!"

"Michael Risset was strangled by a very powerful pair of hands. Paul Banock is over the age of 60. He wouldn't have had that power." said Timothy Rimon.

"Why didn't the murderer commit his murders in the same way of the first, A.K.A, where he couldn't get punished by justice since he didn't do anything legally wrong?" asked Jack Passent.

"I don't know that, Jack Passent. I'm not a psychologist!" yelled Phillip Rice. "Frederic Andrews, Timothy Rimon, do you have any ideas?"

"Not really, sir."

"Okay. You can tell me if you find any hypothese. Now, I am going to see what is taking the chef so long!"

"Dinner is served!"

The waiter arrived, serving the meal. Phillip Rice, meanwhile,was trying to figure out the motive, the connection with the victims, and the identity of the killer, whilst ignoring the evil eye that Jeff Arquios was giving him. Jack Passent was right about the father of the victim's disdain for him. But they were celebrating Christmas together, so now wasn't the time for arguments. He wanted this night to be a happy occasion, after all.

The Christmas Eve Party went on until after 2:00am, where everyone went to bed.

"These people are total strangers to us, aren't they?" said Ruth Banock.

"I know that, but still, it was very thoughtful of Mr. Rice to invite us to his home. And the people who were there were also very nice. Except that Harry Maxwell boy who accused me of the murder of Michael Risset. Obviously his colleagues aren't as stupid as he is."

"Mum, what bed to you want to sleep in?" asked Lily Arquios.

"This one." chose Madeline Arquios, pointing to the bed she was going to sleep in.

"And you, dad?" asked Thomas Arquios.

"The one that is the furthest from that man." hissed Jeff Arquios, referring to Phillip Rice. "I think it's this one but I'm not quite sure so..."

"What's your problem with him? He introduced us to lots of people who have been very friendly towards us!" Alexander Arquios started, interrupting his father.

"He invited us to Christmas dinner!" continued Thomas Arquios.

"And he let us sleep win his house so we wouldn't have to drive back home at night!" finished Lily Arquios. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"It's because he won't let us move on. It's already hard enough for me to get over my som's death without that stupid detective coming into my home and reminding me that he has been murdered. Always telling us "ooh, the murderer of your son has struck again" all the time. Do you think I give a damn about Richard's killer killing somebody else! I want to move on with my life! Why do you three like him so much?"

"Because he's a nice person, Dad." Lily Arquios said, sighing. She obviously had enough of his father's inexplainable animosity towards the detective. "Goodnight, dad.

* * *

**So that's chapter 6! I hope you enjoyed that (I know I enjoyed writing it: in fact, this chapter gave me the inspiration for the climax. ****Unfortunately, I don't know the time of update for the next chapter. Until next time, a****nd as always, here are the picks of the chapter:**

**Fic of the chapter: Stranded by TacticX**

**Song of the chapter: I Wanna Feel by SecondCity**


	7. Fourth Murder & Not-So-Merry Christmas

**Hello, readers (if there actually are any, and the traffic graph doesn't suggest there are much) and here chapter 7. Enjoy!**

* * *

Ashleigh Dawson went downstairs to put the presents under the Christmas tree for the following morning when a man dressed as Santa Claus took her hand. At first he was delicate but it didn't last and it wasn't long before the woman was lying dead on the floor.

Satisfied, the Father Christmas-dressed murderer start undressing the corpse and taking it into a place where nothing could be heard or seen, before raping the dead body. After he had had enough, he put the still naked body into a very large box, then wrapped the box up. He also left "Ashleigh Dawson, 30 years old. 4 down, 22 to go, and still no sign of being found. Oh, and by the way, what a great body to make love to.", evidence that she was dead before leaving by the chimney.

* * *

Richard Dawson, Michelle Dawson, Simon Dawson and Robbie Dawson were opening Christmas presents. All had received lovely presents, but there was one enormous present that hadn't yet been opened since there was no name tag on it, and they were all deliberating on whether to open it or not.

"And by the way, where is Ashleigh?" asked Simon. "She is still not downstairs and she has never been late to open presents on Christmas or her birthday."

"I'll go see in her bedroom." said Michelle.

After she had gone, Richard said:

"Right! Let's just open that big box right now and get it over with. It's probably for all of us anyway so let's see what it... OH MY GOD!"

"What is it Richard? What is it?" asked Robbie, slightly surprised at his brother's sudden change of tone.

"It can't be real. I'm hallucinating. I MUST BE HALLUCINATING!" screamed Richard Dawson. Michelle Dawson ran down the stairs.

"No sign of Ashleigh anywhere, where could she be?" she said.

"Honestly, Richard, what can't be real for god's sake! Please tell us! Oh, I'll just look for myself! So, what could possibly be the... WHAT IS THAT? Oh, it's just Ashleigh."

"What? Can we look?" asked Michelle and Robbie Dawson.

"No, it's so horrible you would get hysterical. A little bit like Richard is right now. Now, if you don't mind..."

"Yes?" asked Michelle and Robbie in unison.

"I would like to..." he continued.

"Yes?" asked Michelle and Robbie in unison.

"CALL THE POLICE! NOW!" he screamed.

"Why?" asked Michelle and Robbie in unison.

"STOP ASKING WHY AND JUST DO IT!"

"Why?" asked Michelle and Robbie in unison.

"BECAUSE ASHLEIGH HAS BEEN MURDERED! NOW CALL THE POLICE! WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE! DO IT!"

"Okay... Hello police, this is Robbie Dawson. My brothers have gone completely hysterical and if you could get him some medecine, I don't know, maybe a little daze or hit him to put him to sleep, it would be... OW! What did you do that for?"

"Oh, let me do this."

He dialed the police's telephone number and said: "Hello, it is Simon Dawson and my sister Ashleigh Dawson has been murdered. Please come quickly. Goodbye."

Now they had to wait.

* * *

"Merry Christmas everyone!" said Jeff Arquios to his family and Conor Tryair.

"Merry Christmas!" everybody said.

They then exited the bedroom and soon they encountered Phillip Rice, who was on the phone.

"Okay, thank you!" he said before hanging up. "My, this murderer murders even on Christmas!"

"Wait, there has been another murder on Christmas day?" asked Lily Arquios.

"Yes. A female this time, and obviously none of you could have committed the murder since you were all here. The murderer, in his message, claims to be raped the woman, a claim which we will have to verify since if it is the case, guarantees that the murderer was male. If Ashleigh Dawson, (the victim), or her body, had no sexual intercourse, it would suggest that the the murderer is female."

"And why is that?" asked Conor Tryair.

"Because, Conor Tryair, it would suggest that the murderess wanted to throw us off her trail by convincing us that the murderer was male by claiming to have raped the body. Anyway, Merry Christmas! Unfortunately, I have to do my job today."

The detective then left to the scene of the crime. He hoped to discover the identity of the murderer in the shortest time possible. Unfortunately, he wouldn't find out anytime soon.

* * *

"Could you please tell us how you discovered the body?"

"So, it was early in the morning and we were downstairs unwrapping our Christmas presents. Ashleigh wasn't there and we were questionning her absence, so Michelle went upstairs to check on her. Meanwhile, there was one 'present' left, if I can actually call it a present, and it had no name tag, so Richard decided to open it anyway and then he got completely crazy. Simon and me were concerned about Richard's behaviour, so Simon had a look and he got hysterical, just after that Michelle got back and told us she couldn't find Ashleigh, and since Michelle and I didn't know what was going on we were thinking they had gone mad, and Simon told us to call the police and I pretended to call them and mocked him, and he got annoyed and called the police for real and told them. That's everything."

"Thank you for your help, Robbie Dawson. And my condolences."

"Well, not-so merry Christmas to me, I suppose. But please find out who the murderer is."

* * *

**Will somebody at least give a review? Either I'm in a bad context, I'm a bad writer or this is just not interesting. Could you please at least tell people about my fic here? I mean come on! Anyway, here are the pics:**

**Fic of the chapter: A Love That Never Fades by DawsonGurl**

**Song of the chapter: Crying For No Reason by Katy B**

**Until next time... Oh, why do I bother? No one reads anyway!"**


	8. Author's Note

**First, this is not a chapter. This is an author's note.**

**I realized that interest is extremely low on this story. While this would not usually bother me, I am slightly disappointed that no one seems to actually be taking interest in my work. Not only that, I can't find the inspiration for the rest of the story, but I don't want to stop the story abruptly, plus I have already written the final chapter. With these clashing facts, I have decided not to write the story of the 21 following murders since it is just more of the same, but to instead fast forward 4 years to the end of the affair. The two final chapters will be posted soon.**

**Sorry to whoever may read this story in the future and would like to see more, but the motivation is gone and I can't find a way to make murders 5 to 25 actually interesting and not more of the same. So there will be only two more chapters to this. I will be making several rewrites to the final chapters in order to make up for the sudden jump (and hopefully make of Deadly Birthday to You a more well liked story in the future).**

**Due to the rewrites (and the fact that I haven't yet written Chapter 9) do not except the two last chapters to be published too quickly (though they WILL published soon)****. However, Chapter 10 will be published very soon after Chapter 9. And (spoiler) there will be a massive twist in the end! Stay tuned!**


	9. Four Years Later: Murder 26

**I know I've taken a little bit of time (sorry, even though I know it won't bother anyone anyway), but here is chapter 9! Enjoy!**

* * *

_January 2013_

"Phillip you MUST have some trail by now!" yelled Frederic Andrews in frustation. 25 murders had been committed and still they had no idea who the murderer could be.

"Andrews! How am I supposed to concentrate when you are banging on about the fact that the murderer has left no evidence. He's very sneaky, I think he wears gloves."

"Well then let's look for gloves with fingerprints on them!"

"We can't just go in the street and inspect every single gloved person's gloves! It's the middle of winter, everyone wears gloves at this time of year."

"Well what else do you want to do? What else can we do? Well think of something!"

"The only way is to trick the murderer." said Phillip Rice.

"And how exactly do you want to do that?" asked the police officer.

"I will have to think about that very carefully. Have a nice day!"

Phillip Rice then stood up and left the police officer wondering how the detective was intending to trick the murderer into revealing his identity.

* * *

_On the evening of 30 March 2013_

Well, that was an amazing party!" said Phillip Rice as he went into his room. "I enjoyed that so much. Now, I never got the chance to look at my old school photos. Ah, here it is! The class photo for the movie project class. So there was Richard Arquios and Justin Banock and Bryan Fox and Roland Wicks and Ashleigh Dawson and Michael Risset and Dimitri Canvas and Natalie Rogers and..."

Phillip Rice stopped talking as a terrible memory came to him: all of the 25 victims were in the movie project class organized by the school and he had also been in that class. Then he heard something coming. He opened his drawer and grabbed his gun, but he couldn't see anybody, only a shadow. It was his turn, but he wasn't going without a fight, oh no.

At that precise moment, he was stabbed and he fell to the floor. The murderer had got him aswell and he had killed all of his victims without getting caught.

The murderer took a pen and a piece of paper and wrote: Phillip Rice, game's over, you didn't catch me, did you? And so your forfeit is your life! The 26 murders have gone by so easily. Goodbye, police, I'm off." and left it atop the dead body. He then left the house in the same way as he entered. He had won the game and his reward was freedom. Or so it seemed.

* * *

"Oh my god! Phillip, can you hear me?" yelled the maid.

No answer.

"Phillip!"

No answer.

She got worried and checked his pulse. There was none. She called the police immediately who arrived at the scene.

* * *

"I just can't believe it!" said Frederic Andrews.

"Phillip... is dead." said Timothy Rimon.

"On his 30th birthday aswell!" Jack Passent pointed out.

"It's the killer's final murder, isn't it."

"For losing the game Phillip was murdered, and for winning the killer escaped without a hitch. Blasted serial killer!"

"Well, the least we can do is avenge his death by catching the killer."

"And we should tell the Arquioses!"

* * *

**Shocker? Well you haven't seen anything yet! There's more twists and turns coming up, so stay tuned for the final chapter. And the pics, of course:**

**Fic of the chapter: The Fault In Our Infinities by rebeccamay97**

**Song of the chapter: Let Go For Tonight by Foxes**

**Note: There will NOT be pics of the chapter for chapter 10, so here are four more pics:**

**Second fic of the chapter: The Ice Princess by JustAnotherGirlInTheWorld**

**Third fic of the chapter: The Dark Falling by TacticX**

**Second song of the chapter: Stay With Me by Sam Smith**

**Third song of the chapter: Rather Be by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne**

**Chapter 10 is coming soon!**


	10. Climax, After the Trial & Ending

**Well, it seems that the story has gotten better in the week. Also, Deadly Birthday to You had 6 views on Friday****, which is more than any other day.**

**So, here it is. The last chapter. My favourite chapter of the story, and by far the best in my opinion. I hope it is a fitting end to my fic, and don't worry, I have not forgotten the twist. In fact there is more than one. Read and find out! And this chapter has over 2,000 words to compensate the jump in time from the last chapter.**

* * *

It was hard for Frederic Andrews, Jack Passent and Timothy Rimon to face the fact that Phillip Rice was dead, and it was even harder for them to say it to the Arquioses.

"The Arquoises! I'm sorry to say that the serial killer has struck again, presumabely for the very last time. And the victim is Phillip Rice."

"What?" asked Lily, Alexander, Thomas and Conor.

"We are distraught at his death as he was a close friend. We shall hold his funeral in a few days."

"That won't be necessary." said Phillip Rice, entering the room.

"Wait, Phillip, you're alive? How can this be? You were dead! He told us you were dead!" Jeff Arquios said in complete shock.

"Happy birthday, Phillip Rice, even if I'm slightly late. And I love the jacket you're wearing! Who gave it to you? Or, if you bought it yourself, where did you buy it? I certainly would like to have one of those! And I am so glad that you are not dead!" said Conor Tryair.

"Why thank you, Conor. Anyway, the actual victim was Claude Fitzinkong." said Phillip Rice.

Once the officers had recovered from the shock of seeing Phillip Rice, Timothy Rimon was the first to speak:

"And how do you know that?"

Phillip Rice explained.

"I had realized that I was the intended victim a long time ago, but I wanted to find the identity of the killer, so here is what I did:

I went to this suicidal hospital near Andover where I met Mr. Claude Fitzinkong. He told me that he was intending to commit suicide so I asked him to meet me at my house on my birthday. Then, when he came, I told him about my plan and he agreed to be a part of it.

So I dressed him as myself and hid in the closet, where I could see what was happening but I could be sure that the murderer wouldn't see me. Then we waited for the murderer to come, whilst Claude Fitzinkong was pretending to be me. Then the murderer came and stabbed Claude Fitzinkong in the chest thinking he was stabing me, and I saw exactly who it was who killed Claude Fitzinkong, and the 25 others."

"Well, who is it, Rice? Who is the killer?" screamed Richard Dawson from outside.

By this time pratically all of the victims' friends and family were at the house waiting to find out who had murdered their loved ones.

"The identity of the murderer may come as a surprise, as he has unovertunable alibis for the murders of both Justin Banock and Ashleigh Dawson. He also as a strong dislike for me, and he was suspected by a officer at Christmas dinner. When I saw him kill Claude Fitzinkong thinking he was killing me, I was also surprised at his identity, but I had to realize the fact that the killer is..."

BANG!

Jeff Arquios lowered his gun, smiling as Phillip Rice fell to the floor, but was as shocked to see Phillip Rice get up seconds later as his family was shocked to learn of his guilt in the murders.

"...Jeff Arquios." Phillip Rice finished.

"How did you survive?" he asked.

"The jacket I'm wearing, dear murderer, is bulletproof."

"You, Phillip Rice, are a goddamn, interfering, lousy, little, creep." said Jeff Arquios as he prepared to grab the detective's neck.

Alexander, Thomas and Lily Arquios noticed this and pinned their father to the floor just as he was about to strangle Phillip Rice.

"So, you would favor some stupid detective who won't let you move on with your loves over your own father?" asked Jeff Arquios. He could not believe that his own children were tussling him on the floor to save a man he could not stand. "You have betrayed me."

"No, father," said Lily Arquios. "You betrayed us all, especially Richard."

"Jeff Arquios, you are under arrest for murder. Anything you say will be taken into account at the trial." Frederic Andrews and Jack Passent said as they restrained Jeff Arquios from harming Phillip Rice again. "Oh, and Phillip, that was a brillant plan!"

Jeff Arquios spat at the detective before being escorted out of his house. Phillip Rice overtook the colleagues and told the families about Jeff Arquios's guilt as the murderer.

As Jeff Arquios was dragged out of the house, Paul Banock walked up to him and punched him in the face.

"You deserve the death penalty, unfortunately that's abolished. But you will pay for Justin, I swear."

The father of three was dragged by the police officers, while the friends and families of the victims were booing him, throwing tomatoes and orange peels at him. It was pretty obvious that the man was hated by all of them.

There was one thing that no one knew. It was that Jeff Arquios was not actually the killer.

* * *

Yes, Jeff Arquios was not actually the killer.

Obviously he was the killer of Claude Fitzinkong, there was no denying that. But it stopped there.

You could think that Phillip Rice would stop seeing the Arquoises after he had found out who the murderer was. But Jeff Arquios sensed that his family was becoming very good friends with the detective that he couldn't stand. So he decided to rid himself of the man once and for all by killing him. And he decided to disguise the murder has one of the serial killer's. The plan backfired due to Phillip's clever plan, and he ended up framed as the murderer.

So no one will ever know who really was the serial killer: they will believe that Jeff Arquios was their man.

* * *

_Almost three months later, 16 June 2013_

Jeff Arquios was in prison awaiting trial for the murders, 25 of which he didn't commit. Meanwhile, his family, Conor Tryair and Phillip Rice came to visit him in prison for a little confrontation.

"Oh, hello, my dear wife and children. And salutations, Conor Tryair. Oh, it's you, you sick little creep." he muttered, referring to Phillip Rice.

"If anyone's a creep then it's you, father." said Thomas Arquios. "You are a sick man."

"You do realize that you are talking to your father! Apologize!" Jeff Arquios yelled.

"I will not apologize since a sick man is all you are." replied Thomas Arquios.

"Phillip, when is the trial?" asked Madeline Arquios.

"It is tomorrow, Mrs. Arquios. I will be in attendance. Oh, and by the way, Jeff, I had video footage of Claude Fitzinkong's murder."

"If I manage to win this trial, I will get you, you rat!" spat Jeff Arquios.

"With the video footage, I highly doubt that. I'll see you at the trial tomorrow."

When Phillip Rice left, Conor Tryair said:

"Well, it seems like your hatred was your downfall. But it totally makes sense now: you were afraid that he would find out that you were the murderer, so you tried to get him off your back, but when you realized that he would be a longtime friend, you decided to kill him to ensure that your guilt would never be known. It's funny how your plan backfired so marvellously!"

"GET OUT OF MY FACE!" screamed Jeff Arquios.

Conor Tryair, Alexander, Thomas and Lily Arquios left.

"I'm having a divorce, Jeff." Madeline Arquios warned her husband. "Goodbye."

She left her husband in his cell, turning her back to him.

The next day, Jeff Arquios was found guilty of the murder of Claude Fitzinkong, but not guilty of the murders of Justin Banock and Ashleigh Dawson, with the 22 other murders pending (the Richard Arquios murder isn't legally considered an actual murder, but as death by misadventure). He was jailed for life with 30 years without parole.

Madeline Arquios was successfully divorced from Jeff Arquios. Phillip Rice remained good friends with the Arquioses and remained in touch with the Banocks and the Dawsons, albeit not very frequently.

Paul and Ruth Banock went into a retirement home where they still are today. Everyone seemed to be able to get over the deaths of their loved ones eventually, but even one year on, they still cursed the man they believed had been the cause: Jeff Arquios.

* * *

_September 23, 2013_

"Could you bring Jeff Arquios into this room, please?" Phillip Rice asked an officer at the prison. "I need to talk to him."

Jeff Arquios was brought to the room and confined to his chair. The men had a metal cage separating the two, in case the prisoner was to do any harm to the detective, and left the room.

"So, Mr. Rice," said Jeff Arquios, saying Rice as if it was a cuss word, "why did you want to see me?"

"Because, Jeff Arquios," replied Phillip Rice, saying Jeff Arquios as if it was a cuss word, "I need to ask you some questions regarding the murders of Justin Banock and Ashleigh Dawson. You have uncontestable alibis for both."

"Oh, yes. Well, Mr. Rice, the truth is..."

"You're not the killer." Phillip Rice interrupted.

Jeff Arquios was slightly surprised at the detective's sudden interruption.

"How do you know that?"he asked.

"I came up with this idea a few days ago. You didn't commit any of the 25 first murders, but since you obviously wanted me out of your life, you decided to murder me and frame it as one of the serial killer's murders. Isn't that right?"

"Yes." Jeff Arquios replied.

"That plan backfired on you due to my plan and you were framed as the killer."

"Yes."

"Now, Jeff Arquios, do not except me to give out my conclusions. Because even if I did you would still be in prison for the murder of Claude Fitzinkong, I would have to resume my search for the actual killer and I honestly can't be bothered. I've had enough of the 30 Years Affair now.

"Isn't that your job?" asked Jeff Arquios.

"I'm allowed to have a break you know! Besides it wouldn't make the slightest difference for you, Jeff. You would still be rotting here with a life sentence. So enjoy the rest of your life and let me focus on more important affairs. I don't want anything to do with you, my would-be assassin."

"Oh please, you're joking!"

"No I am not."

"But it wouldn't look good on you if someone discovered that you knew of my innocence all along but withdrew the world of this, would it?"

"Everybody knows of your innocence for the murders of Justin Banock, since you were in the U.S.A., and Ashleigh Dawson, since you were at my house for Christmas dinner with your family."

"So you are willing to leave me to spend the rest of my days in prison when you could get me out of here?"

"Yes I am."

"Hiding evidence is punished."

"Did you actually pay any attention whatsoever to your trial and what I said? You've only been found guilty of the murder of Claude Fitzinkong: for the remaining 25, you have been found not guilty of the murders of Justin Banock and Ashleigh Dawson, Richard Arquios' murder is considered death by misadventure, and the other 22 murders are pending. And my theory is not evidence."

"And what about my family?"

"We're very good friends, I can assure you of that. But I don't think they would be excited to see you again." replied Phillip Rice. "Have a nice day!" he quipped before leaving. Once Phillip Rice had left the prison, Jeff Arquios was brought back to his cell and locked up.

* * *

**So this is the end.**

**I want to thank the 17 people who viewed Deadly Birthday to You**

**Was this a good end? Let me know! **

**And as I switch the fic from In Progress to Complete, I find joy in having completed my first fic (even if it is short and not very popular).**

**I don't know what to do next, but I'll be back.**

**Thank you to all the readers and goodbye.**

**For now.**


End file.
